Pakistani novelists Mohsin Hamid and Kamila Shamsie have been long listed for the Man Booker Prize for 2017.
Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West and Kamila Shamsie’s Home Fire are among the 13 long-listed books selected by a panel of five credible judges ranging from literary critics, novelists, artists and travel writers. The winner of the Man Booker Prize will be awarded a prize worth £50,000.
Hamid was previously nominated for his critically acclaimed novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist. He joins in four previously short-listed writers including Arundhati Roy. Her novel The Ministry of Utmost Happiness is among the list. She previously won a Booker Prize in 1997 for her debut novel The God of Small Things.
Chair of the 2017 judges, Baroness Lola Young said, “Only when we’d finally selected our 13 novels did we fully realise the huge energy, imagination and variety in them as a group. The long list showcases a diverse spectrum — not only of voices and literary styles but of protagonists too, in their culture, age and gender. Nevertheless, we found there was a spirit common to all these novels: though their subject matter might be turbulent, their power and range were life-affirming – a tonic for our times.”
Exit West deals with a love story of a young couple in an unnamed Middle Eastern country on the brink of civil war. As the conflict in that region forces them flee but with a risk of a dangerous exit. Andrew Motion in his review in the Guardian wrote, “A major part of Hamid’s achievement in Exit West is to show how profoundly social damage will injure private lives – not only in obvious ways, but by hampering the ability to construct any sort of life outside their sphere of influence.”
Home Fire opens in a Heathrow interrogation suite, as the protagonist heads for the US to resume her studies after they were interrupted by her mother’s death.
This year’s list of authors has a ratio of seven men and six women. The winners will be announced on October 17 after a short-listing of six-strong contenders.
This year’s list of contenders has a ratio of seven men to six women – the gender split similar as last year’s long list.
Sebastian Barry’s novel Days without End, made him win the Costa Book of the Year prize twice and now is a long-listed book. Ali Smith, Zadie Smith, Hamid and Sebastian Barry had also been earlier short listed for the Man Booker.
The first-time nominees include Emily Fridlund and Fiona Mozley along with four US writers. Last year, the Man Booker Prize went to the first American recipient. The veteran writer Paul Auster, aged 70, known for 4 3 2 1, has his first novel in seven years in the list. Colson Whitehead, George Saunders and Fridlund make up the rest of the US contingents, while Mozley and Jon McGregor complete the quartet of UK contenders.
Two Irish authors – Barry and Mike McCormack – and two novelists who were born in Pakistan, Hamid and Shamsie have made the list quite complete.
Man Booker Prize List 2017
4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster
Days Without End by Sebastian Barry
History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
Solar Bones by Mike McCormack
Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor
Elmet by Fiona Mozley
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
Autumn by Ali Smith
Swing Time by Zadie Smith
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Published in Daily Times, July 28th , 2017.